The ANBU Chronicles File 1
by Spork Warrior Kore
Summary: This is the first File of the ANBU Chronicles. Leaf and Cloud vs. Mist and Rain. [GenmaxOC]
1. Mission

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1: Dokugamoto Sasori and Shiranui Genma

The ANBU captain stared at Sasori and Genma through his white porcelain mask. The two Special Jounin felt like they were being analyzed by the captain. He finally leaned forward and spoke.

"Dokugamoto Sasori, age 26, eyes: red, hair: reddish purple, fighting style: ninjutsu, village: Once affiliated with Sunagakure, currently of the demolished Cloud Village now of Konohagakure," he said, reciting her file from memory," Other facts: One of 4 bodyguards and trusted retainers of the lady Raikage, officially a missing-nin from Sunagakure. Prodigy of the Dokugamoto clan, master of poisons and the art of silent killing, you were a Cloud ANBU before you came here. Aaaand now, you want to be a Konoha ANBU. Am I correct?"

Sasori nodded. Genma shifted. The captain stared hard at her and she stared back, her red eyes passive, unfeeling, and devoid of emotion. 'Just like looking at Itachi...' the captain thought," Such a strange woman... I am surprised that the Hokage trusts her and her friends." He turned his attention to Shiranui Genma.

"Shiranui Genma, age 29, eyes: brown, hair: brown, fighting style: ninjutsu, Other facts: Not much to say really and not much worth noting except for you work during the Chuunin exams 6 years ago," the captain said," Not very notable, are you?"

"No sir, I prefer to keep my head down and do my job," Genma answered.

"Then becoming an ANBU is about as ambitious as anything," the captain grumbled," Any how, I have an assignment for the two of you. It has been noted by your superiors that you both are lone wolves when it comes to missions, Sasori, you moreso than Genma. This mission will require you to work together or you will both die at the hands of a very dangerous S-ranked missing nin."

Sasori arched a fine eyebrow at the captain. Genma flicked the needle in his mouth with his tongue.

"This S-ranked criminal is from the Wave Country and specializes in genjutsu," the captain continued," His name is Hirata Gensou and he has a silver tongue-"

"Meaning?" said Sasori.

"Meaning he can persuade you to do just about anything he desires," the captain replied. He excused her interruption for the time being," You must remember that he is decietful and all he ever speaks is lies. He can blend the truth to make it seem like it is real but it is nothing more than a lie. Believe him for one second, and it will be your life."

An uncomfortable silence settled. Sasori, who only responded to one authority, dared not mock the ANBU Captain and Genma just wanted to get out of the stifling office.

"When do we leave?" Genma asked.

"You leave tonight, in about two hours," the Captain said," Here are your mission folders. Read them over well and good luck on your mission. If you successfully kill Gensou, you will both be awarded the rank of ANBU."

They both nodded and took the folders.

"Now, I want you two to know that you could have been ANBU a long time ago but because you cannot work with others, I have cooked up this mission especially for the both of you. I kid you not, if you don't work together, you will die so you better start getting use to one another now," the Captain said.

"Are we dismissed, sir?" Sasori asked.

The Captain frowned behind his mask and then waved them off.

"Get the hell out of here you two. Good luck."


	2. Information

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 2

Genma

Genma trudged home, his pace a little brisker than usual. The stiff Special Jounin was highly annoyed that not only did he get to work with the infamous Sasori from Kumo, but they were going to be on the same mission and he hoped to Hokage that she would just do what he said so they could get the mission done and over with.

A hand reached out and touched his shoulder.

"Good evening Genma-san," said a familiar voice.

Genma looked over his shoulder, his tongue flicking the senbon needle instinctively. He found himself looking into the masked and presumably smiling face of Hatake Kakashi.

"Oh, good evening Kakashi-san," replied Genma, his eyes trailing back over his shoulder in the direction he had originally been walking.

"Oooh! Did you get a mission file?" Kakashi asked, trying to tug the manila folder out of Genma's iron grip.

Genma tugged it back.

"It's ANBU so I can't tell you," he said.

"Ah, elite," Kakashi said with a mock sigh," However, I already know a part of it."

"Were you listening in on the briefing?" Genma said, putting his free hand on his hip.

"Nope, but I heard that you will be working with the Dokugamoto woman," Kakashi said in a low voice.

Genma's eyes widened and his senbon needle faltered.

"Who told you?"

"Ahh... I can never reveal my sources!"

"I knew it! You've been sleeping with that female ANBU lieutenant!" Genma said, whacking Kakashi with the folder.

"No, no! That's not the case!" Kakashi laughed," Now seriously, I am going to offer you a bit of advice!"

"The last time I took your advice, I got slapped and called a pervert. I haven't had a date since," Genma said in an annoyed tone.

"It pertains to the mission," Kakashi said, waving his hand dismissively," Your target has a short limit break. If his attacks miss you or Sasori 7 times, then be prepared for the biggest round of genjutsu the both of you have ever seen."

"It can't be too bad-" Genma scoffed.

"I'm not kidding," Kakashi said in a serious tone," The Captain may not have told you this but they have already lost 3 ANBU in pursuit of this man. Do not take him lightly."

A short moment of silence passed and Kakashi loosened his grip on Genma's shoulder that he wasn't aware that he had had ahold of in the first place. Genma flicked the senbon needle again.

"Come back alive Genma, you're good friend of mine," Kakashi said.

"I will Kakashi," Genma said, giving him a smirk.

They turned to part ways.

"One last thing, Genma, make sure that you tell Sasori what I told you because I don't think that it is included in the file," Kakashi said.

"Sure thing," Genma replied and they parted ways.

Sasori

Sasori sat in the darkened room of her apartment, her only light being a single lit taper in a holder. She was alright with such little light and sped-read the file on Hirata Gensou, making mental notes here and there on the man. 'A great genjutsu user, eh?' she thought,' this would be easier if only Genma wasn't in my way! I could easily handle this by myself! I truly don't need teammates, why can't people understand that!?'

A soft knock on her door caused her to look up.

"Enter," she commanded.

In stepped a beautiful woman with stormy grey eyes indicative of her name and silky black hair that had made Sasori jealous on more than one occasion. She wore her black and white Kage robes and her black Kage hat with the kanji for lightning on it. It was obviously, the Raikage herself, Shinzui Arashi. The Raikage smiled and shut the door behind her.

Sasori immediately put the file aside and bowed low to Arashi, the only person she had ever showed respect to in her life, and really, the only person she really respected at all. After a moment, she looked up, sitting back on her legs. Arashi knelt on the wooden floor beside her.

"Sasori-san, I heard of your mission! I wanted to congradulate you," she said in her usual quiet manner.

"Arigatou, Arashi-dono," Sasori said, bowing again.

"Oh come now, let's dispense with the formalities," Arashi said, whipping her Kage hat off her head like a frisbee," When do you leave?"

"In an hour and a half," Sasori replied, chuckling at the Raikage's casual behavior,

"Aish! Have you even packed yet?"

"No, Arashi-dono, I was reading the file."

"Do you need help packing?"

"No ma'am," Sasori replied softly.

Arashi recognized that tone. She smiled and laid her hands on her friend's shoulders.

"I wish you all the luck in the world, Sasori-san," she whispered," But I fear with your super-human ability, you won't need it."

Sasori smiled- a rare smile. Arashi was always such a good friend to her.

"Indeed," Sasori chuckled.

"I'll leave you to your business but I must tell you something about Hirata Gensou," Arashi said," If he ever has you in the grip of his genjutsu, you must draw your own blood. Make yourself bleed and his genjutsu, no matter how powerful, will be released."

"How- how do you know this?" Sasori asked, her red eyes wide.

"Because he fought me to a draw once," Arashi replied," he would have had me but I stabbed myself with my own kunai so I could break his spell over me. I am warning you that you may have to do the same, Sasori-san."

"Arigatou, Arashi-dono," Sasori said. What she had told her had not been in the file.

"Doitashimasite, Sasori-san," Arashi replied. She smiled and stood up, stooping to scoop up her Kage hat," Now, I shall leave you to your business! Don't forget to tell Genma what I have told you!"

"Hai," Sasori said and watched her friend go to the door.

"Good luck Sasori," Arashi said and left.

The two never said goodbye.

2 Hours Later

Sasori and Genma met up at the Eastern Gate, just as the file had told them. Each had a pack over their shoulder and their ANBU cloaks on. They looked at eachother, gave a mutual nod and went through the gate. They got a running start and lept into the trees, headed for the Wave Country.


	3. Surrounded

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 3

Genma and Sasori barely spoke to each other the whole first day. Most of their communication consisted of nods to greet the other, or tilting their head or chin in whichever direction they thought they should take. Questions were answered tersely. It seemed as though each tried to forget the others presence and only paid enough attention to other to answer their questions. The silence between the two Jounin was deafening and succeeded in further irritating them, whether they knew it or not.

In fact, the most they even conversed about was the mission. They both had read the file on their cover- a husband and wife who were going to a private party held by Hirata Gensou himself- and neither of them relished the thought of even pretending to be associated with the other. It was strange for them to be so opposed to the other but since circumstance and their superiors had pushed them together, the best they could do was deal with it. Genma knew that one of Sasori's good points was that she followed her orders to the letter. However, she would still let others know what she truly felt about the mission in her own nonverbal way. So he at least could depend on her to complete the mission- but to help him, he wasn't sure.

That fact alone put him on edge and annoyed him greatly. If he found himself needing her help, would she act to complete the mission or would she save his life? He looked over the campfire at her and tried to discern an answer from her demeanor. The fire gave no warmth to her eyes as she stared into it, her blanket draped about her shoulders, an infinite look of sadness on her face. Her eyes were glazed over as if she was remembering something, something that saddened her.

Genma blinked and it was gone. The same emotionless mask that she always wore returned and her emotions were once again veiled by that impenetrable wall of stoicism. Her eyes flicked up at him and Genma mentally swore. She had caught him staring at her. Her fine brows furrowed and she turned away from him, crawling into her sleeping bag. She turned her back to him and lay very still. Genma was unnerved even moreso now. It would have been more like her to have said some snide remark about his staring but instead, she just laid down and went to sleep! 'She's unpredictable...' he thought,' I am really starting to not like this mission.'

After an hour, Genma too curled up on his side of the fire and dozed off in the light, practiced sleep of the ninja. It was a fitful sleep and although his body lay as deathly still as Sasori's, inside he was in turmoil.

On the second night, they had made it to the Great Naruto Bridge. They looked at each other again and Genma extended his arm as if to say "Ladies first." Sasori walked past him and he followed up behind her, taking larger strides to catch up to her. She looked over at him for a second and then faced forward again. Genma shoved his free hand in his pocket and adjusted his backpack by the strap. His brown eyes wandered over to the horizon, which was milky in the waning light and the hazy fog. The normally vivid colors that the setting sun gave off had been softened several degrees by the light mist. The sky was a rich portrait of creamy purples, deep blues, all fading to black and speckled with thousands of stars.

'Who'd've thought that the sky could be so beautiful outside the city,' Genma thought, the tip of his tongue running over the end of the senbon needle. 'Perhaps I should observe the sky more often...'

"Shiranui-kun," said Sasori," Do you think it to be strange that we are the only ones on this bridge?"

Genma looked around. She had a point but perhaps this bridge wasn't busy at dusk. Then again, it was whispered among the Jounin that Sasori's instincts were always dead-on and she was rarely wrong. Rumors however, were not to be believed so he relied on what his instincts said about the situation.

"You think too long," Sasori said with a sigh," We are surrounded."

Genma looked around. He saw no one but knew she was right.

A/N: Aight, I didn't put an author's note in the first few chapters because I am lazy. But umm, yeah, hi! I am Spork Warrior Kore, Navy brat and soon to be Navy chick. I don't own Naruto and ah... umm... I'm tired. Going to bed now. Please Read and Review!


	4. Chuunin Fight!

I don't own Naruto.

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 4 Warning: Explicit violence and with a dash of sadism.

Genma pivoted on his foot, dropped his back pack, and stood behind Sasori, their backs almost touching. He had a special holster strapped to the right side of his leg that carried not only shuriken and kunai, but at least 50 senbon needles. He tensed slightly, getting ready to react in case one appeared. His senses told him that they were surrounded.

"I've got your back," he ground out, trying to sound as professional as possible. He was curious about her reaction and what she would say.

Suddenly, a few dozen kunai cut through the air around them on all sides. Genma's hands immediately drew two kunai from his holster and he managed to duck one. He leaned forward to let two sail behind his back, an inch away from his back. He swore as he deflected a few attacking kunai with his own kunai. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the distinctive clinking of metal against metal and saw a few sparks enter his line of sight.

She scoffed and drew out her kusarigama.

"You're on your own, i Jounin /i ," she said, her voice laced with steel," If you are forever leaning on people, you'll forget to stand on your own two feet!"

The mist in front of Sasori quivered and Genma felt her presence move away from him in a snap. 'Bitch,' he thought and squinted at the mist. Two distinct shapes wavered in the thickening mist and he drew a third kunai. Genma waited patiently. The shape on the right wavered again and he flung the kunai in the blink of an eye. The mist went red for a moment as a fine spray of blood tainted the air with a coppery aroma. A soft thump told Genma that he had struck down one target and that there was one less to take down.

Behind him, he heard twin screams of pain as Sasori presumably took out two of their attackers. 'She's got two already!' he thought. Normally, Genma could care less about keeping score per se but he figured that if he was going to get her cooperation, he'd have to at least best her in something, or prove himself to be equal her skill level. His hands, now free of weapons, flew in a flurry of hand seals and a second later, a ball of glowing blue chakra had gathered in each hand. The two balls floated a little higher above his hands and started to revolve around each other. Then, they divided in half like bacteria and there were 4 balls of chakra moving in a circle in front of him kind of like electrons circling an atom. He concentrated and the balls moved faster. They split again and became 8 balls revolving around some invisible point. Genma took a knee and lifted his hands above him all in one fluid motion.

"Genshiryoku Kunai no Jutsu!" he called out," Rahoui!"

The 8 balls of chakra crackled with energy, electric charges flaring out from them. Then they shot out from his hands in all 8 directions of the compass. Cries of pain were heard left and right as the balls of energy struck targets- some fatal, some superficial. Genma looked around. Blood was everywhere. He could hear the moans and groans of pain from those who had been hit by his attack. Casually, he looked for Sasori. The mist had started to lift and he could now see the bodies of the ninja he had hit. Sasori stood among the injured, her kusarigama in hand. She was swinging the end of the chain that had the ball, her body swaying lightly with the motion of the weapon. Genma watched her for a second, partially relieved that she had had the presence of mind to avoid his jutsu.

Footsteps.

Genma turned around and started a series of seals before he had even seen who was coming. His seals faltered when he saw Sasori running towards him swinging the ball end of the kusarigama. 'What the hell?' he thought. His eyes widened. 'A copy jutsu!' he thought wildly. He started his seals when she threw the ball end of the weapon, it seemed to head straight for his face at first but as it neared, he saw that it was aimed over his left shoulder. The ball spun by his head and a sickening crack was heard followed by a groan of pain and a spray of blood. Genma looked over his shoulder and saw the 'Sasori' who he had originally seen fade into what looked like a middle-aged woman with a line through the Mist hitai-ate headband she wore around her neck. Genma cringed and stepped away from the woman, who dropped to her knees, the ball of the kusarigama embedded a little to left of the center of her face. Her one good eye rolled up in her skull and she slumped over to the right side, her body twitching violently from shock.

"Damn..." Genma whispered.

The true Sasori stalked up to the woman, her face cold and her eyes speaking of the rage that she felt. She gave the chain a tug, trying to free the ball from the woman's skull. It didn't come loose on the first, second, or even the third tug. Annoyed, the kunoichi put her foot on the woman's left shoulder and gave the chain a two-handed tug. The ball came out with a wet pop that made Genma wince slightly. Sasori winced as well and backed away from the woman whose twitching slowed a bit. To Genma's surprise, she knelt and passed a finger over the woman's good eye, closing it. The kunoichi's twitching ceased.

The fog had almost totally lifted and Genma could count the bodies. 5 had been hit by his attack, their bodies destroyed beyond recognition at the points were his attacks had made contact. Further more, some were still alive, writhing in agony, spending their final moments of their wretched life screaming in pain and bleeding out.

Sasori's victims numbered 6 and all but one were silent. As Genma surveyed the carnage, he watched Sasori walk calmly up to the man who was in his final moments, curled around himself, coughing up blood and clutching his stomach. She had apparently ripped him open with the kama end of the kusarigama. As she approached, his eyes widened in fear and he tried to inch away on one elbow while holding his viscera in him with his other arm.

"Get away, d-demon!" the ninja yelled, his eyes betraying his panic.

Sasori paused. Her back was to Genma and he wished he could have seen her face. Her chain was limp in her hand, her fingers tensing and untensing around the chain, unsure of what to do.

"Demon btch from hell!" the ninja yelled, blood spewing from his mouth as he spoke, dribbling out of the corners of his mouth and spraying on her bare legs.

At that insult, Genma watched her lower her head slightly.

"You... you think me to be a demon?" Sasori whispered, her voice quivering slightly.

Genma could only watch. He had never heard Sasori like this before.

Suddenly, she grabbed the ninja by the hair and hauled him up, leaning over slightly so she could stare him in the face. Her voice changed in its emotion as her right hand clutched the kama (sickle) part of the weapon.

"I'll show you a demon!" she spat.

Before Genma could react, the ninja had made a swipe at her Achilles tendon with a kunai he had hidden from her sight, severing it slightly. It didn't stop her from digging the point of the kama into the ninja's throat. She pushed the sharp weapon into the man's neck, just behind his windpipe. He cried out in pain, his pale blue eyes squeezing tears out. Genma watched as the skin on the other side of the man's neck tented and was then broken by the tip of the kama. The man was crying now, his tears flowing steadily down his face which was a rictus of pain and mumbling various pleas for mercy.

"Your pleas fall on deaf ears," Sasori hissed.

Without further hesitation, Sasori yanked the kama forward and pushed his head back, severing the ninja's throat. Dark blood gushed from the wound as the man tilted back, his eyes wide with shock. He fell backwards and his grip around his waist loosened, his viscera spilling onto the ground slowly. Blood pooled around his neck.

Sasori stood up straight and nearly fell over but Genma caught her since he was already near. Her kusarigama clattered to the ground and Genma tried to right her. He brushed the hair out of her face and noticed that her lips were blue. 'What the-' his mind raced,' That kunai must have been poisoned. A fast-acting poison too. I've got to get her somewhere safe!'

Genma hefted Sasori up and placed her in a fireman's carry. The Jounin grabbed their backpacks. He would clean up the mess later but right now, he needed to get her to a doctor or at least somewhere safe.

- Atomic Energy Kunai Technique; Compass

- Fireman's carry, body laying horizontally across one's shoulder's with an arm and a leg hanging over in front of the carrier's body and the carrier holding on by their wrist.

A/N: Read and Review please!


	5. Safe Haven

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 5

About 10 minutes later, Genma was laying Sasori down in a bed in one of the numerous inns near the bridge. He had told the innkeeper that he needed a room for the next 4 nights and paid him extra to keep the man's mouth shut.

"Do as I ask, and you will be rewarded for your trouble," Genma had told the man.

The man was obediant as soon as money was waved in front of his face. Such men were dangerous and yet so loyal... provided that you were the highest bidder. Genma figured it might be prudent to switch inns the next night but he decided to worry about that later. She was nodding in and out of consciousness and her skin was cooling with every passing moment. Her breathing was shallow and short. Genma wasn't sure what to do.

"Think!" he whispered to himself.

He then remembered that Sasori was a master at the art of poison-making so surely she had an antidote somewhere. He grabbed her back pack and started to dig through it until he found a small leather case. Cautiously, he opened it and found what he was looking for- the case was full of small vials with different colored liquid in each side. One side was clearly marked as antidotes and the other was clearly marked poisons. Genma turned the vials about until he could read their labels. He had no idea there could be so many different types of poisons! There was an antidote for glucose based poisons, animal based poisons (5 different types of animals), virus based poisons, plant based poisons, and a few random ones as well. On the other side were the deadly ones themselves. His hand drifted back to the antidotes and found a general antidote. He started to slip it out of the pocket it was in on the Antidote side of the case when he felt a cold hand on his.

Genma looked at Sasori as she tried to push the vial back into the pocket of her case. Instead, she groped for one on the Poisons side. He pushed her hand away easily.

"Wrong side," he said," These are the antidotes."

He indicated the left side of the case. She shook her head and struggled to say something.

"M-mmiss-la-mislabel..." she said weakly and made a grab for the side clearly marked Poisons again. Genma let her snatch a vial with strange green liquid in it. She pushed it sloppily in his hands for him to open. He unscrewed the small glass top and clenched it gently between his teeth. Slipping a hand under her head, he lifted her up carefully and tipped the antidote marked as a poison into her mouth, with some hesitation. He set the empty vial and cap on the bed stand and rubbed her throat a little bit to ease the antidote down. Genma shut the case and set it on the bed stand beside the empty vial. He dug a canteen out of his pack and one-handedly unscrewed the lid. Once it was open, he very carefully dropped small amounts of water into her mouth to help the antidote. He stopped when she held up her hand.

After easing her head back down on the pillow, Genma tended to her cut Achilles tendon. Thankfully, it wasn't cut all the way through so he could mend it in the field. Every Jounin was supposed to at least have some medical training now according to one of Tsunade's decisions regarding the ninja she commanded. Genma concentrated and gathered some chakra into his hands. Carefully, he started to knit the muscle back together with his healing chakra, his tongue nervously flicking the needle that was perpetually in his mouth.

After about 15 minutes, he had mended it as best as he could. He applied disinfectant and anti-bacterial liquid before properly dressing the wound. He listened to her breathing and was relieved to hear that her breaths were deeper and not as raspy as they were earlier. He judged it alright to leave her for the time being.

He stood up and walked to the door. He made sure that he had the room key in his pocket and locked the door on the way out.

Not even 5 minutes later, Genma was back on the bridge. His brow furrowed at the fact that while there was blood everywhere in no short supply, there was a lack of bodies from which the blood had come from. A half-hour was a long time and Genma was mildly impressed with the speed that all 11 bodies had been recovered, down to the last bit of skull and brain matter from the woman that Sasori had bashed in the face. The memory of her trying to pull the ball out of the woman's face gave him a small shiver. 'No wonder she was ANBU in Kumogakure,' he thought,' Makes me wonder what the rest of the Cloud ANBU are like.'

He turned around and noticed Sasori's kusarigama on the ground not far from him. He would have picked it up except for the fact that his sharp eyes noted a smudge on the bloodied blade. Someone other that Sasori had touched her weapon. 'A trap,' he thought.

It took Genma about a minute to find the wire, and a few minutes to neutralize the trap. He picked up her kusarigama and further checked the area for traps. He collected their kunai and found an enemy kunai that they had missed. Cautiously, he picked it up, wrapped it in a handerkerchief, and tucked it away.

Genma strolled about in town, looking for some food. He intended to buy dinner for himself and Sasori but wasn't quite sure want she'd like. He passed many vendors, all selling something that looked even more delicious than the last. Since he was in Wave Country, there was an abundance of seafood and other delicacies from the sea. Left and right, enticing aromas assailed him. One lady was handing out samples of the "fresh, spicy-cooked lobster". Out of curiosity, Genma sampled a bit. 'Not bad,' he thought. It was the first time he had ever had lobster. In fact, he had never really eaten much seafood before so why not try some now?

He ordered a small box of the spicy lobster at the stall and was given a little take-out box. Genma browsed the other stalls and bought some noodles at one, some stuffed crab at another, shrimp tempura at another stall, some snow crab legs, a pile of egg rolls at one, a small assortment of sushi, and a bottle of cold apple juice in a mini-mart. He bought a few other things, some peach buns for dessert and some medical supplies, and headed back to the inn. He couldn't wait to eat.

Sasori lay on the bed, her body fighting off the poison with the help of the antidote that Genma had helped to administer. Her right ankle was ball of dull pain that she had to constantly shove into the back of her mind. She tried to sit up but failed miserably. Her muscles had been hit hard by the poison and it was a struggle to even move her head. Sighing, she lay back on the pillow and let her thoughts drift. The only person who had ever really helped her was Arashi but now Genma had helped her to a safe location and even tended to her poisoning and injury. None of the Cloud ANBU in the past had ever done that for her.

'Bah, he's probably repaying me for covering his ass,' she thought,' That is more likely.'

A small part of her was doubtful. 'Nah, he was just doing his job,' she thought,' Nothing more, nothing less.' That doubtful part wouldn't quit. She really wasn't feeling like herself, no not at all.

-End Chapter 5-


	6. Assistance and a Fall

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 6

A key rattled in the lock and Sasori managed to grip a kunai from her holster. The door opened and Shiranui Genma, her partner, came in with several take-out boxes and a grocery bag. She relaxed her grip on the kunai and tried to sit up again. Genma set the boxes and the mini-mart bag on the table in the small inn room. They made eye contact and she nodded her chin at the table.

"I bought us dinner," Genma said," I hope you like seafood because that is pretty much all they have around here."

Her eyes lit up and she struggled to speak.

"W-wha'd you get?" she asked weakly.

"I wasn't sure what you might like so I got some spicy lobster, snow crab legs, a bit of shrimp tempura, noodles, a bit of stuffed crab, some sushi, and cold apple juice for a drink."

Sasori fought her body, willing it to sit up. Genma moved to the bed and helped her sit up. He propped her back against the headboard.

"Can you at least chew?" he asked.

Sasori nodded weakly. Genma patted her shoulder and went to the table. He started opening boxes and setting the food up on the table buffet style of sorts. He dug a camping plate out of his pack as well as a pair of chopsticks. Putting a little bit of everything on the plate, Genma dragged the only chair in the little room up to the bedside and put the plate on her lap. Carefully, he picked up a spicy tuna roll piece with the chopsticks and fed it to her. She struggled to chew it and eventually passed it down her throat. Genma leaned back and grabbed the bottle of cold apple juice off the table and unscrewed it. With perhaps a little too much care, he helped her drink a little bit of the apple juice until she put a hand up.

And so it went like that. Genma was surprised to find that the lithe Sasori had quite an appetite. After a few pieces of sushi, she was trying her damnedest to hold the chopsticks that she had clumsily plucked from his hands. He watched her in silence as she willed her fingers to pick the twin bamboo sticks up. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she attempted to pick up few noodles. He admired her strength and her resolve to try and feed herself, basic human behavior for an adult, however the more she tried, the more she failed. It started to annoy Genma. 'Why does she try so hard?' he thought.

Finally, he took the chopsticks from her and tried to feed her a piece of stuffed crab. She turned her head away.

"Look," Genma said," I know you want to feed yourself but right now, your body is weakened from that poison. Let me help you, Sasori-san. I promise I won't tell anyone that I fed you but please, eat. You need your strength."

Slowly, she turned her head and allowed him to feed her the crab. Her maroon eyes avoided his brown ones and a slight blush formed on her cheeks. He pretended not to notice.

After Genma had finished feeding both of them and lay her back down on the bed, he unpacked his blankets and a bedroll. He then set about the task of making himself a comfortable place to sleep. The floor was hard wood and he wanted to make his stay on it as comfy as possible. He made his little nest for the night beside the bed where Sasori slept peacefully. He dug a pair of pajamas out of his pack and changed in the bathroom, throwing his dirty clothes to the side to be washed in the morning.

Genma secured the room. He drew the drapes shut on the window, closed and locked said window, closed the bathroom door and locked that window as well and drew it's drapes shut. He propped the back of the chair under the doorknob after he had locked it. He made sure that the room was safe before curling up in his little nest.

Folding his arms under his head, Genma sighed contently. Sasori had her back to him but she rolled over and he could see her face. She really was quite beautiful when she slept, he noted. She seemed to lose some of her learned aggression and quiet, smoldering anger when she was asleep and looked for a short while like she was capable of some degree of affection. He reached up and pulled her sheet up towards her shoulders a bit. She snuggled herself deeper into the sheets and sighed contentedly, a small, faint smile gracing her face for a moment.

He flicked the needle with his tongue and let his eyes drift shut. Genma slept lighter than he usually did.

Sasori tried to sleep. She was tired from the poison but her mind simply wouldn't let her get some rest and whatever she did get was fitful and only tired her further. She wished for a change of clothes and a shower but she refused to let Genma help her there. Gods, she felt weak! Her own helplessness in the is situation was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Think! 'How do I get out of this?' she thought. The general antidote was working but she would need to identify what kind of poison she had been poisoned with in order to take the proper antidote. She suspected a plant based poison, given the speed of it's effect. Her mind worked furiously until she figured out what it was. Her eyes slammed open in realization of the answer: Shiyuri, the Death Lily poison, one of the fastest acting poisons out there.

She fought to sit up but failed again. Sasori looked at her poisons case that still sat on the bedstand. Her fingers reached for it and suddenly, for a split second, she was weightless. The Jounin landed with a whump onto something soft and squishy yet slightly muscled. That soft, squishy, muscled thing woke up abruptly as well. A second later, a kunai was pressed at her throat and her cheek stung a bit.

Genma stared hard into her eyes. His expression of annoyance at being awoken and the fact that she was so weak at the moment was a bit much for her. A tear slipped out of her right eye, its salt stinging the thin cut that Genma's needle had made in her cheek that was now starting to bleed a little bit.

Sasori choked back another tear. 'Oh Hokage,' Genma thought,' this is not happening.'

Genma softened his face and put his kunai away. He felt a bit bad for having reacted like that but that was his trained reaction for sudden weight on him while he was sleeping. A tense moment passed and Genma reached up and cupped her right cheek. He brushed his thumb across the tear, wiping it from existence.

Sasori was stunned for a moment. Such... kindness. She needed Arashi right now, her best friend, to comfort her but all she had at the moment was Genma, a ninja whom she had bypassed and ignored up until they had been placed on the same mission together a few days ago. Right now, he was all she could lean on... and she didn't want to lean.

The kunoichi closed her eyes and looked away, repeating what she had said on the bridge as if it were the only solid thing she knew.

"I-If you are f-forever leaning on people, you will f-forget how to stand on your own two f-feet," she whispered, forcing the words out weakly.

To her surprise, a gentle hand turned her face back to where it was. Genma gave her a bit of a concerned yet impasssive look that thankfully didn't make her feel inferior as she initially had.

"And if you are forever standing alone, you will forget how to get back up after you fall," he said quietly.

Sasori blinked and felt her fists close around his shirt in a light grip. Genma instinctively wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her to his chest, stroking her hair lightly. 'Damn this is weird,' he thought. Genma wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation since he wasn't very experienced in dealing with women as evidenced by his lack of dates over the past few years. Still, he wasn't so stupid as to know that they needed comfort, even the ones that are tough as nails like Sasori. Normally, she leaned on Arashi for support, that he knew, but right now, he was all she had.

-End Chapter 6-


	7. Antidote

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 7

Genma awoke to the sound of the room's only chair being knocked over and a subsequent whump. He opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing sleep out of them. His eyes focused and he saw Sasori on the floor about three feet from him in a bathrobe. She was desperately trying to push herself up and was currently propped up on her elbows, the chair overturned beside her.

And she was crying softly.

'Oh fresh hell,' he thought,' Not again.'

Sasori wrapped her arms around herself and sobbed softly. Genma stood and knelt beside her, laying an arm around her shoulders. He didn't say anything because really, what could he say? He couldn't say "It'll be alright" because he had no way of knowing that. He dreaded to ask her what she was crying about for fear of getting a snide remark in return or further inciting a flood of tears. Instead, he waited for her to speak.

"I don't have long," she whispered.

Genma's eyes widened and he moved so that he knelt in front of her, both hands on her slumped shoulders.

"The poison," she whispered in a voice laced with sorrow," was made from the Shiyuri, the Death Lily. It is a fast acting poison that can kill in 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the person. I got the general antidote in my system and that is what has sustained me thus far however, even with my clan's resistance to poison, we still need antidotes for them. I don't have an antidote for Shiyuri."

The last word was choked out and Sasori angrily pushed the tears out of her eyes. Genma was finding this hard to believe. A poison master done in by poison? No way in hell.

"Can't you make an antidote?" Genma asked," I'm sure there is an apothecary somewhere around here."

"Gods, if I had the ingredients, I could make an antidote," she said.

"What do you need?" Genma asked firmly, his hands gripping her shoulders.

Sasori studied his face for a moment. Eyes the color of burnt wood and hair of a matching shade, his bored expression was gone and replaced with a look denoting his seriousness about the situation, the senbon needle in the left corner of his mouth this time. Slowly, she started to list ingredients while he nodded and made mental notes.

"Lastly and most importantly, I need the Shiyuri poison itself," she said," And I fear, that will be the most difficult to find."

"Not so, perhaps," Genma replied simply. He stood and walked into the bathroom where his Jounin vest lay discarded from the night before. He opened one of the pouches and pulled a small object wrapped in a handkerchief out of one of the pockets. The Jounin returned to the room and knelt in front of her and unwrapped the small object. It was the enemy kunai he had picked up the night before. Sasori's eyes widened.

"Is that-"

"Yes, I found an enemy kunai last night that they missed. I saved it for whatever reason but perhaps it has some of the Shiyuri poison on it."

Sasori picked it up and held it up to the small beam of light that had crept in through the drapes. A thin sheen of something non-metallic shone on the blade. A smirk crept onto Sasori's face as she turned the kunai left and right slowly.

Genma found himself at the apothecary's getting exact measurements of about a dozen different ingredients. The shop smelled faintly of old wood and the air was heavily laden with aromas that numbered to many to accurately name. The old apothecary weighed each ingredient and put it into seperate little baggies. He paid the man and left the shop. Genma made haste back to the inn room.

"The sooner the better," he affirmed in his mind.

Over the past 12 hours, her attitude towards him had changed so much. He hoped he could possibly crack this intriguing woman and manage to get her to work with him. Right now, the odds were in his favor. At first, his willingness to help her had been out of concern that he might have to abort the mission if she died and that he would be at the mercy of the Raikage, Arashi, herself if Sasori came back to Konoha dead. That thought had always been in his subconscious and was not the most pleasant of thoughts to think. He knew of the Shinzui ability to control blood and rightly feared it. One well-placed blood clot could kill him.

So he helped Sasori and it didn't take him long to start to enjoy taking care of her. It was an interesting sight to see such a strong woman broken and needing help but denying it whenever it is given. It didn't take her long to give in to his help either. He wondered about that. Was it a facade? 'No, aggression and coldness like that cannot be faked,' he thought.

Or was she ready to change?

Sasori stood in the middle of the room, humming a song to herself, her back to the room door. She was dressed in a pair of black pants with bandages and black straps around her lower legs, a tan, low back halter top that buckled around the neck and exposed her massive black scorpion tattoo with the red torii Ä¦ symbol below the red eyes of the scorpion and the raised scars from years ago, and bandages and black straps on her wrists. Her hair was wrapped up in a fluffy towel.

She truly felt a bit refreshed and was able to move a bit more. The poison still made breathing and moving hard but she fought it. That and the fact that her ankle wasn't totally mended yet encouraged her to do some stiff walking.

Sasori still wasn't feeling like her usual self. A shadow still loomed in her heart.

"Oh, if this could only be a dream and I'm going to wake up soon," she said. A smile played on her lips- the smile of someone who accepted their fate but insisted on not giving in without a fight. If this was how she was going to go, then she honestly could have wished for a better ending. It wasn't fair! There was so much that she hadn't done yet. It had crossed her mind several times that maybe she would like to start a family but she quickly dismissed that thought. Afterall, having children would interfere with her duties to the Raikage and she couldn't have that. A husband would be fine, she supposed, as long as he didn't tell her what to do or try to control her life. 'Life isn't fair,' she thought,' but if I am going to die, then I am going to fight it all the way. Death will discover that I am not such easy prey.'

She grabbed hold of her towel and whipped it off her head with such speed that it made a snapping sound and a second later, she heard it snap on flesh.

"ARGH!" Genma yelled.

She didn't hear him come into the room and had practically zipped him in the face with the towel. Gemma now had a welt on his left cheek from the towel.

"Oh damn!" Sasori said," I'm so sorry!"

And she was for once. She hobbled over and relieved him of the apothecary's bag and carried it to the table. Quickly, she began to unpack the bag. She examined several of the herbs up close and muttered small notes about them before setting them aside. Genma scooted the chair up to the table and Sasori immediately spun it around and sat in it.

"Genma, can you run downstairs and pick up some things for me, please?" she asked, her back turned to him.

He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not your errand boy, Sasori-san," Genma said," but what do you need?

Ten minutes later, Genma returned with the spoons, beer glasses, tubes, measuring spoons, strainers, several candles, and bowls that Sasori had asked for along with a cold bottle of plum wine and wine glasses. She thanked him, retrieved a pair of glasses from her pack, and then started to work.

Genma lay down on the bed with a glass of plum wine, and watched her work. He noted the massive tattoo on her back of the black scorpion with the red torii on it's carapace. His gut wrenched at the sight of the raised scars that the tattoo encompassed. Had she been lashed once? She was busy measuring and cutting herbs for the antidote. Her long scarlet hair was tied up in a messy bun and was out of her way for the most part while she worked. He could admire a master like herself.

"So what's with the scorpion?" he asked.

"The symbol of my clan, the Dokugamoto," she answered, taking a sip of her wine.

"'Dokuga' meaning the poisoned fang or claw and 'moto' meaning the origin," he said outloud," so your last name means 'origin of the poisoned fang'?"

"Hai. As you already know, Sasori means scorpion," she said," Now your last name, Shiranui, means phosphorescent light, mysterious lights at sea, or sea fire. That explains your attack somewhat."

"So what of my first name? Any clue to the meaning of that?"

"Not a fckin' clue. I think your parents hated you," she said, chuckling softly.

"Hey now look who's talking. Your parents named you 'scorpion'," he said.

"Point in fact," she replied," My parents did hate me."

"So did mine," Genma said," They wanted a daughter."

"We should have been born in each other's place then. My parents wanted a son," Sasori said, holding a spoon over a lit candle," so they ignored me. The only time they paid attention to me was when they were beating me."

Her tone was so even, so calm, that it made Genma raise an eyebrow. He studied the scars on her back and he found himself clenching the bedsheets.

"Were they punished?"

"Hai..."

Genma relaxed his grip and forced himself to drink a little more plum wine.

" i I /i punished them," she said flatly.

"And let me guess, you feel no regret?"

"Very little in fact," she said," it was an order by my clan to kill my parents. They defied a clan order not to get involved with Sunagakure and I was ordered to kill them."

"I'm surprised you haven't told me to quit prying yet," Genma said outloud.

Sasori set her spoon down and turned to look at him. Her maroon eyes studied him for a minute before a frown creased her face. She turned her back to him again and started working on her antidote again.

"So... I take it you had fun killing them?" Genma said.

"Quit prying," she replied tersely.

-End Chapter 7-


	8. Plans

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 8

Genma sipped his wine and thought about the mission. Tomorrow, he and Sasori were going to be attending Gensou's party disguised as a married couple and once they had the chance, they were going to kill him somehow. 'Damn, we haven't even figured out how to kill him yet,' Genma thought.

"Sasori, have you thought about how to kill Gensou?"

Sasori hummed as she held the spoon over the candle, heating up its contents.

"Hmmm... I was thinking along the lines of poisoning him. Not a fast-acting poison but rather a slow-acting one," she replied," Infiltrating the party will be easy, perhaps too easy. We have to anticipate that Gensou will be on his guard and that he will have guards. The first thing to do is neutralize the guards. However, we are going to have to get past some guards first, presumably. You and I are going to have to put on one hell of a show to make sure that our ruse is believable, you know."

"And the party is being held at Risoukyou, a night club that Gensou owns here in the city," Genma said, reciting the file from memory," Or sources say that this is going to be a party to end all parties."

"What is Gensou celebrating, again?"

"His 30th birthday."

"Heh," Sasori chuckled," It'll be his funeral."

Genma tilted his head and put an arm under it. He watched her back for a minute or two, studying it. The scars on her back were raised and from his point of view, looked like burn marks. Well, some looked like burn marks and still others looked like lash marks, like she had been whipped. Genma winced at the thought of what sort of torture she could've gone through when she was younger. His parents had only paid attention to him when they needed to and never yelled at him to clean up his room or got on his case about anything, really. Instead of ignoring her, her parents had hurt Sasori. He dared not dig any further into her business for fear of pissing her off.

He looked up at the ceiling. Indeed, Sasori had changed a lot in the past 24 hours. Her cold and arrogant demeanor had left her and now she was at least a bit cordial to him and cooperative. That was great but how long would it last?

"Finished!"

Sasori lifted the beer glass filled with a strange brownish blue liquid that swirled in the dull light of the room. Genma sat up.

"You have to drink that whole glass?" he asked.

"No," she said," I made enough for 3 antidotes. I am going to drink one now so there will be one antidote for each of us."

He watched as she walked over to him and picked up her antidote and poisons case from the bedside table. She took out two extra vials and measured some of the antidote into them. The rest, she swallowed shakily. Carefully, Sasori screwed the tops back onto the vials and handed one to Genma. She tucked hers into her halter top, right between her breasts. Genma raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What?" she said," It's one of two places on my person where anything is secure."

Genma opened his mouth to retort when she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Wisely, he shut his mouth and kept his remark to himself.

Sasori took the bed again that night and Genma slept on the floor again. He didn't mind since he noticed that Sasori's movements were still a bit stiff and her breathing picked up sharply occasionally. She had been trying to hide it from him but he could tell that the poison had been wearing on her. Only her blood and its resistance to poison as well as her vast knowledge of poisons had kept her alive- and his care. She hadn't reacted well to his attempts to help her at first but later, she had asked him for assistance.

He folded his arms under his head and stared at the ceiling. Tomorrow was going to be interesting for sure. 'For one evening, I am going to have to pretend to be her husband and it has to be believable,' he thought,' If Gensou suspects us to be deceptive, we are going to be dead before we realize it.' Hopefully, Sasori would be feeling better in the morning because if not, they would be screwed. She needed to be in good health because Genma knew he couldn't pull it off alone and he had a feeling that she realized she couldn't do it alone either.

On the bed above and to the left of him, Sasori was plotting their plan of attack. She could pretend to be Genma's wife. It wasn't the first time she had pretended to be something she wasn't so pretending to be someone's wife was no big deal. Like an actress acting out her character's affection and devotion to the character that the actor potrayed, this was no different except it had higher stakes. The worst that could happen for actors and actresses is that they get booed off the stage. If Genma and Sasori screwed up, there would be no booing or showers of rotten vegetables. There would be death.

They would have to play along with each other and make sure their stories matched up. Sasori was excellent at improvising things and Genma was the type that could easily follow what she said. They could feed off each other. At least, that was what she hoped that was what the case would be. She couldn't pull this mission off without him because their ruse depended on Genma as much as it depended on her, and Sasori knew it.

"Yes, Gensou-sama," the subordinate said," All eleven of the dead have been destroyed. Their secrets are safe."

Gensou laced his hands together and rested his elbows on the desk. His mind worked furiously. Who could be skilled enough to dispatch 11 Chuunin and escape alive? All of his ninja that he had sent to patrol the bridge for added security for his party had been killed on the bridge- no survivors to tell of who had killed them. As a result, he had doubled his watches and was checking each and every one of his guests for illusions. He wanted to avert the obvious.

His unknown foe or foes unnerved him. Gensou was the kind of man who liked to know what odds he was dealing with. In fact, he had run almost his entire life on two things- gambling and being a missing-nin. He was quite good at both things and thusly he had thrived in this world. For the most part, he didn't really practice ninjutsu so he wasn't at the top of any assassination lists. He was high-profile criminal however. His native village was powerless to stop him and the body count proved it. In fact, his only major rival had been Gatou but he was killed when his own hired ninja killed him - thanks in part to the Leaf ninja who had been protecting Tazuna the bridge builder. With Gatou gone, Gensou was free to build as he chose.

So he built himself a casino and a nightclub, both of which prospered. He looked out his office window and down on the many Wave Country citizens gambling away their money and wages on a game that they probably would never win. That was okay for Gensou. That meant more money for him and what he needed was money.

Though already a wealthy man, he was not without ambition and his ambition encouraged him to try and make an empire. He already had the Wave Country in his hand for its citizens were slaves to their addictions. He wanted to conquer the Fire Country next but the first step there was to eliminate Konohagakure and every last Leaf ninja. The Leaf nin were strong, yes. He remembered when they had staved off an attack from both Sand and Sound at the same time. That was an impressive show of strength and only succeeded in fanning the flames of his ambition. If Konoha fell to him, then what was to stop him from attaining the rest of the world?

The plan had been nearly flawless. Only his closest associates had known about the plan to overtake Fire Country but it appeared that there was a leak. Gensou liked to take chances but with something this large at stake, he couldn't afford to underestimate or brush aside the death of 11 of his finest Chuunin.

"Gensou-sama, shall we cancel the party?" the subordinate asked.

"No," Gensou said," Double the guard around Risoukyou and around me. I want to draw them out and watch them die. No one has taken out 11 of my agents in one go..."

He paused and stood up. His long, silky black hair with the streaks of blue, periwinkle and white was tied at the base of his neck with a simple black elastic. His suit was crisp and a beautiful dark blue with black accents. His shirt had a Mandarin collar and he wore no tie. His bright blue, pupil-less eyes sharply contrasted his pale, creamy skin. Suddenly, he brought his fist down upon the oak desk. His eyes were frozen with pure fury.

"That is unacceptable. As soon as we find them, kill them!"

-End Chapter 8-


	9. Shopping

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 9

((A/N: I found out that I was right the first time I spelt his name. His name is Fuchika Genma but a lot of sites have him pegged as Shiranui Gemma. I'm going to go with Shiranui Genma.))

The next morning, Genma and Sasori had woken up within 10 minutes of each other. Genma let Sasori shower first and while she showered, he went downstairs to get breakfast for the two of them. He went to a little breakfast stand a little ways into the market and picked up some seafood breakfast sandwiches. They consisted of little Kaiser rolls that had been split in half and each had some sort of delicious mixture of ingrediants. Genma picked out a sandwich that had a sunny side up egg, some lobster, and a bit of salty spinach in the egg. He chose some other small sandwiches with some tamer ingrediants, paid for the sandwiches, and left the stall.

The market was abuzz with activity even in the early hours were a mist still hung over the village. Mariners of all kinds lined the streets of the market district and threw their morning catch into trays of ice while their wives, girlfriends, and daughters called out to passerby. Genma was one street over from them and he could faintly smell the fresh fish over the delicious smells of cooking fish. He stopped into the same mini-mart he had been in two nights before and bought another bottle of icy cold apple juice. Today, they had to go shopping for outfits to wear to the club tonight and oh Hokage, Genma hated shopping. He couldn't match colors to save his life. Hopefully, Sasori would have some sense of fashion.

He went up the flight of stairs to the room he shared with Sasori and pushed his key into the lock. This time, he ducked as he went in. Laughter like the tinkling of small bells reached his ears. It was the first time he ever really heard her laugh. He smiled warmly at his partner, who was sitting on the bed, and set the bag with the juice and sandwiches down on the table. She stood and dug around in the bags.

"Ooh! You got the good stuff!" she said as she picked up a sandwich that just happened to be Genma's egg, spinach, and lobster one.

"THAT good stuff is mine," he said, plucking it out of her fingers," There is another one in there with lobster and egg but it doesn't have the salty spinach."

"Bastard," she mumbled and dug into the bag again.

Sasori picked the sandwich with the boiled egg slices, green onion and bacon. She took a bite out of it and tried to get him back.

"Mmm.... this ish good!" she said," I pity you that you can't enjoy some of this sandwich..."

Genma stepped towards her and took a bite out of his sandwich, chewing it mere inches from her face.

"Mmmm," he said as he swallowed the bite," Good sandwich."

Her face fell and she took another bite of her sandwich, levelling her glare at him. Her attempts to tantalize him with her sandwich failed as he took another bite, slowly and deliberately chewing it just so.

"You are such a bastard, Shiranui Genma."

A half hour later, Genma had showered and was ready to set about the torture of shopping. He wore a simple dark blue shirt with the words "Women kill me- I don't mind dying!" written on the back. On the front of the shirt, there was a little symbol that was found on most of Jiraiya's "Icha Icha Paradisu" books. For pants, he wore a pair of khaki pants and at Sasori's urging threw on a pair of socks and running shoes. He wanted to wear flip flops but she refused to be seen in public with him if he did. And as always, a senbon needle in his mouth and a blue handkerchief over his hair. Sasori herself had her hair in a high ponytail and wore a black ribbon choker. That paired with short cargo shorts, a purple tank top and black zip-up hoodie and cute black sandals. She looked like a civilian for all intents and purposes.

Then they set out. Money from Fire Country was worth ten times the currency of Wave Country and things were cheap in Wave Country since they had found prosperity and the completion of the Great Naruto Bridge. As a result, a few Konoha dollars could buy them a feast at any local restaurant. The same was true everywhere else on the island.

The first place they stopped at was a store that sold formal attire for men. Grudgingly and dreading what might happen, he went in. The proprietor came over to them and politely bowed, greeting them. The man had a smile that was too big for his face, large front teeth, an awful comb-over, a measuring tape draped over his shoulders unevenly, and a laugh that made Genma want to grab the measuring tape and strangle him with it- which was well within his ninja ability to do so. He decided to let Sasori do the talking since she was easily sharper dresser of the two.

The proprietor whose name was Mr. Mukai, listened to her eagerly and motioned for Genma to step in front of a mirror on the stool- putting the ninja in an advantageous position to hang him. Genma allowed himself a sadistic, dreamy smile of the things he could do to that annoying man who so reminded him of a flea that wouldn't stop. The man whipped the measuring tape off of his shoulders and started to measure Genma in every sort of way. Genma just moved as he was told and let this beaver in a human body get his measurements.

Once he was done getting his measurements, Mr. Mukai rushed him to a large folder that had many different styles of suits and tuxes displayed in glossy sheets. He browsed through. To him, all the tuxes looked about the same but with a few details changed here and there. Mr. Mukai was chattering away in one ear and Genma just wished for the man to shut up.

Sasori saved him by distracting Mr. Mukai. Relieved, Genma took a seat on a padded bench while Sasori picked out a few suits and shirts for him to try on in some rather sleek styles. And speaking of suits, Mr. Mukai wore an iridescent green suit with a deep shirt and a white tie. Even Genma, forever inept at fashion, had to wince at the man's poor choice of clothing. Normally, Genma was very laid-back when it came to other people but this man was down-right infuriating.

20 minutes later, Genma was trying on a few suits. Comments on how they looked on him went in one ear and out the other. At this point, Genma didn't give a sht what he wore- he'd go stark-naked to the party if it wasn't WAY out of line. He liked the black suit with the simple black turtleneck shirt underneath, no tie, bow, or ascot. The suit was cut nicely with three buttons on the coat. Genma liked the suit, a lot. Sasori did have good taste.

They bought the suit along with a pair of socks and shoes that Genma felt comfortable in. It was imperative that he be able to run around and do ninja stuff in the shoes. So after 2 hours of dealing with Mr. Mukai, Genma was finally free and he had a suit as well.

Now it was time to shop for her. This would be the easy part. Genma could sit down and relax while she tried on dresses and various kimono. Sasori was quick to find a kimono shop. The proprietor however looked like Mr. Mukai's evil twin sister and made Mukai tolerable. Genma excused himself from her equally infuriating presence and waited outside. Not even a half hour later, Sasori came out of the shop with a long box tucked under one arm.

"That didn't take long," he remarked, flicking his needle at her.

"I found what I wanted almost as soon as I got in the store," she said, checking her watch," We can hit a few more shops so I can get some accessories."

"I'll wait outside," he said with a smile.

-End Chapter 9-


	10. Risoukyou

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 10

As soon as Sasori had finished getting accessories presumably for herself, they headed back to their hotel room. Once there, Sasori set about the task of beautifying herself. And she had her stuff EVERYWHERE. The table was in use, the bathroom was in use, and Genma got in her way once and only once.

"Sasori! I need to take a piss!"

"I'm doing my hair!"

"Woman, I'm not kidding! Apple juice runs right through my system and if this door doesn't open right now, I am going to use your travel pack as a urinal-" Genma's needle flicked impatiently.

The door opened and Sasori stood there with one hand holding her hair in an elegant bun with numerous tendrils falling down across her back and shoulders, some of them framing her face. Her jaw was set but then her face softened.

"Thank you!" he said, trying to push past.

She put one hand against his chest and pushed him back.

"What the- "

Sasori plucked the needle from between his teeth and speared her bun with it, effectively holding it in place. He dropped his jaw at her audacity but then again, it didn't surprise him. Then she stepped out of the bathroom and let him in.

"Oh thank Hokage!" he said as he swept past.

There was an unzipping sound.

"Oh! Oh god, sweet Raikage, shut the damn door, Genma!" she said, averting her eyes as Genma kicked the door shut.

Two minutes later, she heard a flush and Genma exited the bathroom with a relieved look on his face. She looked at him and furrowed her brows. He blinked.

"I'll wash my hands..." Genma said and went back in the bathroom.

After that, he lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling while she whisked about the room getting ready. The bed was really the only safe place to be. Soon, Sasori was nearly finished. Admittably, she really didn't need make-up to be beautiful and Genma hoped that she didn't pile it all on. He hated it when women piled make-up on their face; it looked trashy to him, especially the stuff that was dramatic and made the woman look like she had just stepped off a kabuki stage. Thankfully, Sasori used very little make-up; just a bit of eyeshadow, some eyeliner, dark red lipstick and some lipgloss that made her natural pout even cuter. She dusted concealer on some of her scars. Nail polish that matched the deep ruby-maroon red of her lipstick went on her slightly long nails and toenails. Then she put her accessories in. Six gold chopsticks with dangling ornaments to hold her bun in place (three on each side). Genma noted how carefully she put the chopsticks in.

"Why the caution?"

"These look like ordinary hair ornaments but really, they are kanzashi that have been coated with my own special poison, one of the deadliest of the Dokugamoto family," she replied.

"Really?"

"Yes, this poison can kill in 20 minutes or less and there is no antidote."

Then she put on a gold bracelet that had a chain attached to a beautiful golden ring that went on her left middle finger, a gold necklace with a scorpion pendant on it, gold dangle earrings and gold studs, hoops, and cuffs along her left ear, a few small gold toe-rings, and a fine gold chain that was wound in with her hair with the ends cascading down her back.

Then she put on her black underkimono and then the deep red outer kimono. At the bottom of the kimono there was a gold stitched flame motif and on the back, there was an embroidered gold scorpion. What really made Genma's jaw drop was that this was not a formal kimono- it looked like a kimono but there was a slit on the left side that went almost to the top of her thigh. That and a proper kimono did not show off cleavage- hers did. She had arranged her black obi so that it pushed her cleavage up a bit. Then she hid her weapons. The Shiyuri antidote between her breasts, several shuriken hidden in the soles of her strappy heels (think Tsunade's footwear), and a beautiful fan that hid razors along the edges.

It didn't take Genma long to get ready for the party. With Sasori's help, he managed to tie his hair back in a small ponytail. He climbed into his suit and was fiddling with the turtleneck when Sasori came up behind him and draped a gold chain around his neck. He let her fasten it before giving her a questioning look.

"You need to look at least a little wealthy," she said as she pressed a small box into his hands.

Curious, Genma opened the box. Inside, there were a pair of gold cufflinks with onyx inlay. He quickly put them on and adjusted his jacket.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Human," she laughed," What about me?"

"Passable," he retorted," Don't forget our act."

"Of course not."

Genma armed himself with weapons that could easily be hidden should they be subject to a search, mainly senbon needles and shuriken. They gave each other an okay nod and left the hotel room, walking with arms linked to Risoukyou. The sun had just set.

Getting into the club was rather easy, thanks in part to how tantalizing Sasori looked. Any man on her arm got in without question. Sasori had adopted an arrogant attitude and really got into her act. She looked disinterested in the people around her and her expression was slightly jaded. She carried herself like she was the most beautiful woman in the club and indeed, she was. Most men had their eyes on her and some of the women were either staring in awe or in contempt that someone could be so much more beautiful than them. Sasori only gave them arrogant smirks, which suited her.

Genma steered them towards the bar where he ordered glasses of plum wine for the two of them. Sasori crossed her left leg over her right, giving her admirers a nice view of her thigh. The two chatted in veiled words. To lend to the disguise, Sasori would lean forward and whisper into Genma's ear, a smile on her face. She'd touch his arm lightly and sit close to him. Genma would whisper back and Sasori would laugh. To the casual viewer, they looked like a married couple.

Their whispers weren't sweet nothings. They were deadly somethings.

"I'll target Gensou," Sasori whispered," Judging by the way the whole club is staring at me, Gensou is sure to hear from one of his subordinates that there is a fine woman in his club and married or not, he is going to seek me out."

"Hey now," he whispered back," I have to have a hand in this hit somehow."

"Take out the guard, support me."

"How about we play it by ear?"

"I'd prefer a plan of attack..."

"As would I, but these conditions are constantly changing. We need to be able to go with the flow and kill him when we have the chance."

"Mmm, good point. If he senses that either one of us are acting according to a set plan or course of action, then the gig up. We'll just go with it."

Above the club in his office, Gensou had watched the couple enter the club. The crowd had parted somewhat to allow them passage as they moved towards the bar. The woman, even from a distance, was striking. Gensou put a hand to the glass and watched her. The sway of her hips and her demeanor screamed that she was better than those around her and she knew it. He watched them sit and even sent a minion down to ask the bar tender what they were drinking.

"Sir, they are drinking plum wine," the minion reported.

'Wine?' Gensou thought. He had suspected that a few ninja had been sent to assassinate him and had been watching every guest that entered the establishment. Some had been acting shady and he had minions tailing them. He was taking few chances. He wanted to rule the couple out because no ninja in his right mind would think of drinking alcohol when they were on a mission to assassinate someone especially if that someone was Hirata Gensou, one of few the Genjutsu masters of the ninja world.

"Kyosuke, summon Mayonaka Heiko to me."

"Hai, Gensou-sama."

The minion left and Gensou continued to watch the woman at the bar. The way her kimono complemented her body and simply how beautiful she was astonished him. His hands gripped the sill of the two-way glass as he watched her lean in to her date and whisper something in his ear. Even from his distance, he knew that she was smiling.

"You call on me, Gensou-sama?"

A voice like icy silk drifted across his office to caress his ear. Gensou knew immediately who it was- Mayonaka Heiko of the Hidden Rain village.

And she was an S-class missing-nin as well.

Gensou turned and gazed at his right-hand woman. Heiko had never let him down at anything he had assigned to her. She followed his orders to the letter, exceeded his expectations whenever she could, and had saved his life on a few occasions.

He would have married her if she wasn't so impulsive and btchy.

Her faults balanced out her good points. Heiko was 24 but had the tendency to act like a giggly 16 year old, which annoyed Gensou. That and she was madly in love with him. That love tended to add to her impulsiveness and her zeal to serve him. He didn't want to think what would happen if he married her or even engaged in anything higher than a professional relationship with her.

"Hai, I did Heiko."

Gensou turned and was pleased to see her dressed in an icy blue kimono (with a slit on the right side) with white platform sandals, a white obi over a deep purple obi, a black under kimono and a white vest of sorts (for those of you who have played Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage, think of the character Mikoto's outfit.). Heiko's eyes were a cold icy grey and sparkled with malice. Her hair was bright blue with white streaks and done up in a high ponytail.

Gensou turned back towards the window and Heiko's smile faded a bit. She stepped up to the window and followed her master's gaze all the way down to the woman that he was silently watching. As soon as she realized that Gensou was staring at the woman and not her, Heiko's smile faded completely. She pursed her lips together, bit back her anger, and fought the urge to wipe the woman from existence whoever the fck she was.

-End Chapter 10-


	11. Dance

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 11

Sasori and Genma had been nursing their drinks, taking small sips and were constantly on alert for Gensou. It was getting a bit boring, admitably. The place was very modern with neon, strobe, and black lights everywhere and positioned so that they complimented each other and didn't daze the guests and clubbers. There was a DJ up in a booth spinning tracks and off to one side, they could see the door that led out to the tropical garden that Gensou had recently added to the club. Sasori was tapping her foot to the music when one of her favorite songs came on. It was a song that had a bit of a reggae feel to it and one that she liked a lot. The song was called "Wind" and as soon as she heard it, she looked at Genma, pleading with him to dance.

"Please Genma, please dance with me?"

"I don't dance."

"Please?"

When he shook his head, Sasori rolled her eyes and looked over to the dance floor. She finished her drink and went out there to dance. She moved her hips to the beat and stepped lightly to the rhythem. Sasori liked to dance. Back before Arashi had become the Raikage, Sasori and Arashi had gone out to the clubs before and danced the night away. Nowadays, they settled for small get-togethers at each others apartment. Sometimes, it was just the two of them and other times, they invited some of the Steel nin and Cloud nin. Arashi's cousin, Saetayoru Rangetsu, was a very good dancer and had helped teach Sasori a few good moves. Arashi's other cousin, Saetayoru Subaru, partied with them when she could find a baby-sitter for her two children, usually Kakashi.

Sasori loved this song and was a bit sad when it was over. She was about to head to her stool when a powerful presence invaded her space and gripped her hand gently. The next song started.

_Take me down, 6 underground_

_The ground beneath your feet._

She turned to find herself face to face with a markedly handsome man. He had long black hair with cerulean, periwinkle, and platinum white highlights that was swept back in a ponytail at the base of his neck. His eyes were an icy blue and pupil-less. His suit was a nice one- black, tailored to fit him and he wore a simple dark blue shirt with a white silk tie.

_Laid out low, nothing to go,_

_Nowhere a way to meet._

"Miss, I saw you dancing by yourself and it compelled me to come over here and dance with you," the man said, raising her hand to her lips. He kissed her hand and then said," I am Hirata Gensou, owner of this establishment."

_I've got a head full of drought,_

_Down here, so far off from losing out,_

_Round here_

Sasori hadn't expected to find Gensou so early in the evening or rather, she hadn't expected him to find her. The surprise leaked onto her face but she fought it back and... just went with it.

"Something wrong?" he asked in a silky voice.

"Your eyes... they remind me of the reflecting pool in my garden back home," she said, sweeping her fingertips lightly across his cheek.

_Overground, watch this space,_

_I'm open to falling from grace._

It was a lie but Gensou took it as truth, believing her. He placed a hand on her hip and took her response as a yes. In turn, she laid a hand on his shoulder and the two danced, moving in time with the music.

_Calm me down, bring it round,_

_To way high off your street_

_I can see like nothing else_

_In me, you're better than I wanna be_

Gensou was an proficient dancer as Sasori found out. She was great dancer by herself and she wasn't very good when she had a partner. However, despite her tensed and ready-to-react muscles, she managed to move fluidly and follow his cues. Gladly, Sasori let him lead since he was easily the superior dancer of the two.

_Don't think 'cos I understand_

_I care, don't think 'cos I'm talking, we're friends._

"So tell me about your home," Gensou said politely.

"I grew up in Wind Country, where water is a luxury," she said half-truthful.

"So you live here in Wave Country?"

"No, I live in Waterfall Country with my husband. So much more beautiful there with the rainforests and such."

_Overground, watch this space,_

_I'm open to falling from grace_

Heiko watched jealously from her place in the crowd. Her back was against the wall and every man who asked her to dance was summarily rejected with a sweet smile and a snarl if they pressed the issue. Right there, plain as day, was Heiko's downfall. Her jealousy. It glared like an open wound to Kyosuke, one of Gensou's top minions. Heiko smoldered, her anger rising with each passing second. She wouldn't try anything in front of Gensou but as soon as the btch was alone...

_Talk me down, safe and sound_

_Too strung up to sleep_

Genma had been happily watching Sasori from the sidelines but his face fell as he saw her get scooped up by Hirata Gensou himself. Part of it was shock and as he figured out later, another emotion. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. But as he watched the two dance, he felt a pang of jealousy ensnare his heart. Gensou had dipped Sasori low and she was looking at Genma with an upside-down expression not even 4 yards away. Their eyes made contact for just a moment. Genma felt a curl of rage within him as he saw Gensou press his lips to Sasori's throat and then look over at him. It took all the willpower he had not to kill Gensou at that exact moment.

_Wear me out, scream and shout,_

_Swear my time's never cheap_

Heiko continued to watch the sensual and skilled display with smoldering anger. She chewed on a manicured nail absently. Why had Gensou called her when he wasn't going to do anything with her except flirt with other women? Was he testing her... or teasing her? Her jealous mind worked and pure venom seemed to drip from the evil smile she had on her face. 'I bet she's never seen a ninja in her entire life,' Heiko thought. She would corner the woman and show her how terrifying ninja could be. At least, she was one up on the woman.

_I fake my life like I've lived_

_Too much, I take whatever you're givin'_

_Not enough_

Gensou brought her back up and caressed her cheek with his knuckles. His eyes shifted to the slightly rattled Genma and he thought smugly,' So that must be her husband.' He lifted her hand up and pressed it to his lips again as the song wound down to it's final lines.

_Overground, watch this space,_

_I'm open to falling from grace_

"Your husband is lucky to have such a treasure at his side Miss.... Missus...?"

"Shiranui Sasoriko. My husband is Shiranui Genma," she supplied altering their real names a bit.

Usually ninja would use an alias but no ninja in his or her right mind would tell their target their real name. Thus, no ninja expected it.

"That explains the scorpion pendant and motif, Sasoriko-san," he said with a small smile," I think I shall buy drinks for the two you."

Sasori led him to Genma and preformed the proper introductions.

"Genma dear! Look what your Sasoriko-chan found! Hirata-sama, this is my husband, Shiranui Genma," she said," Genma, this is Hirata Gensou."

"Please, call me Gensou and your drinks are on the house."

Gensou flagged down the bartender with a nod of his head. The bartender refilled their plum wine and gave Gensou a glass of scotch. Sasori took her alcohol down a bit fast while Genma and Gensou nursed their drinks slowly. They talked a lot about Gensou and his businesses, Genma's so-called fortune in the soap business, he and Sasori's house in Waterfall country and other endless drivel. Sasori stood and politely excused herself to the ladies' room.

"I'll be back gentlemen!" she said cheerfully, waving her fan at them.

Sasori found the women's room in no time flat and pulled open the door. She ducked in, relieved to find it somewhat empty. She went through a second door into the bathroom and looked about. On the left hand wall, there was a mini-bar where a few women sat and joked about lousy dates with the female bartender. On the right half-wall, there was a row of sinks and behind them, the bathrooms themselves. For the most part, Sasori had ducked in to regain her composure and make sure that she still looked stunning.

Someone followed her in which wasn't surprising given it was a bathroom she had just walked into. However, even as Heiko advanced on her, Sasori thought nothing of it.

-End Chapter 11-


	12. Cat Fight

The ANBU Chronicles

File #1; Chapter 12- Cat Fight

As a new song came on the speakers overhead, Heiko gave the bartender a stony gaze. The whispers began almost immediately. Sasori ducked into a stall and Heiko backed off. Perhaps it was from reluctance that she didn't follow Sasori into the stall or maybe she just wanted to steel herself. Whatever the reason, she took a seat at the bar to wait. The bartender served Heiko a glass of rum which the pissed kunoichi threw back without a second thought. Her eyes strayed to the stall that Sasori was in. She heard the telltale flush, set her glass on the bar and walked up to the stall. She stood back a bit so Sasori couldn't see her feet. The door opened and Sasori walked straight into a sharp right hook.

Blood splat wetly on the glowing white tile, looking like an ink blot because of the black lights.

Heiko was smug for a moment before she felt herself weightless. The Rain ninja was thrown sideways from the impact of a punch to her right ear. Heiko slammed against the wall, which wasn't far away, and tried to get to her feet. A wave of disorientation swept over her and she wobbled to her feet, her eyes locking on Sasori's deathly still figure.

The Cloud ninja's eyes were obscured by tendrils of maroon hair but Heiko could see the blood trailing out of the corner of her mouth. She made no attempt to wipe it off either. Sasori's fist hung in the air from where her punch had made contact with Heiko.

"I don't know who you are, or why you attacked me," Saori said slowly, grinding each word out so that it conveyed her feeling of annoyance," But if you are going to attack me, you had best make every punch worth it."

Sasori lowered her arm and stood up straight, her fierce red eyes staring at Heiko, who had finally regained her balance. The Rain stared at the Cloud and was not pleased with her tone. There was no bfear/b in her voice or on her face. That alone further incensed the already pissed Heiko. 'She should be afraid!' Heiko thought desperately,' There is no way that this btch has any type of fighting experience!'

Heiko lunged at Sasori, aiming a punch to her face. Sasori stayed stock-still up until Heiko changed her attack at the last second and tried a spin kick. Sasori caught her foot and tried to twist it. Heiko flipped herself with the twist and Sasori lost her grip on her foot. Smirking, Heiko spun low, attempting to sweep Sasori's feet out from under her but Sasori brought her heel down sharply on Heiko's ankle. There was a piercing snap and Heiko threw her head back in pain. Her ankle was broken. She couldn't use Taijutsu any more.

The women at the bar and the bartender had been watching at the first sounds of the fight. Heiko threw them a dirty look and they left the bathroom in a hurry. The Rain ninja looked at Sasori.

"You are more than what you seem to be," Heiko ground out," perhaps you took some martial arts lessons or do that Tai Bo garbage but I am far better than that!"

"Sure you are," Sasori said, stepping off her ankle and going towards the door.

Heiko quickly did a series of seals and the walls of the restroom started to glow and it wasn't from the black lights. Sasori stopped and turned back to Heiko.

"So you aren't letting me go without a fight, eh?" Sasori said.

"Hell no. Gensou-sama is mine."

"I had no intention of taking him from you," Sasori said.

"His eyes were on you. I want them on me."

"Growing up would be a good start," Sasori quipped.

A crackling, popping sound was heard as Heiko healed her ankle. The Rain ninja stood up. She had had quite enough of this intrusive btch and her sarcasm. She took out her Rain hitai-ate headband and tied it around her forehead.

"Just so you know, you are facing one of the missing-nin of the Hidden Rain and right-hand woman of Hirata Gensou," Heiko said, one hand on her hip and looking smug," Just wanted to let you since you will be dying shortly."

Sasori turned and put one hand on her hip. This chick wasn't going to back off without a fight so she figured that she might as well kill her. If she was a missing-nin, then the Hidden Rain would be pleased to hear of her demise. That would be nice as far as a bonus was concerned.

"Then let's finish this. I have two handsome men waiting for me," Sasori said with a smirk.

Heiko gritted her teeth and did a series of seals.

"Uki no jutsu!" Heiko yelled. (Threat of Rain Skill)

Instantly, they heard the line of sinks on the opposite side of the wall burst one by one in a strange popping sound. The water in the nearby toilet bowls started to flow and flood over the rim (it's clean, okay? Gensou had a minion put some of those nifty round cleaning thingamabobbers in the toilets.). The water from both sources started to inch towards their feet. Sasori took out her fan and snapped it open with her left hand. She held the fan slightly behind her form. The song blaring through the speakers changed. Madonna's "Die Another Day".

"How appropriate," Sasori said.

Heiko did another series of seals.

"Yokoburi no Jutsu!" she yelled. (Driving Rain Skill)

The large droplets of water rose up from the floor, shaped themselves into senbon needles, and launched themselves at Sasori. Sasori concentrated and did three one-handed seals. Then she swung her slightly large fan forward in a sweeping motion.

"Kyoufuu Henshin no Jutsu!" Sasori said. (Raging Wind Deflection Technique)

The water senbon needles were destroyed as soon as Sasori's attack made contact with them. Water droplets showered the angry Heiko. Sasori's expression of annoyance had not changed. Instead, she moved from the line of stalls into the room with the bar and line of broken sinks. Heiko did the same. They stopped at the exact same time and faced each other, Sasori's back to the exit.

Suddenly, both of their hands flew in a flurry of seals.

"Kadou Saiden no Jutsu!" Sasori said. (Vortex Sanctuary Technique)

"Suiton - Mizu Shuriken no Jutsu!" Heiko cried. (Water Element; Water Shuriken Skill)

Immediately a vortex of wind formed around Sasori, pushing back the water and the hundreds of shuriken made of water were either deflected or disentegrated upon impact with the vortex of air that flowed around Sasori. Some of the water shuriken smashed bottles in the bar while others shattered the long mirror above the broken sinks. Shards of the mirrors fell into the water. Above them, some of the lights blinked on and off. Sasori got an idea.

The water was already about 8 inches deep (20.32 cm to the rest of the world) but around Sasori, it was dry from her Kadou Saiden, which had started to pick up shards of the mirror and spin them around her. 'I need to end this so I still have chakra to fight Gensou with,' she thought,' Kadou Saiden uses too much chakra.' Heiko was already starting her next attack, her hands flying in a series of seals.

"Sanseiu no Jutsu!" Heiko yelled. (Acid Rain Skill)

Sasori's eyes widened in horror as water condensed into a cloud that blotted the celing from view. The light got dull and then the nightmare started. Most of the rain was deflected by Kadou Saiden and wherever it splashed, a hole was burned into the surface. Some of the acid rain drops managed to cut through the vortex and Sasori covered her face as best as she could. A long drop grazed the left side of her neck and caused her to cry out in pain. The droplets that made it through burned holes in her kimono. This had gone on long enough. Concentrating hard, Sasori did a short series of one handed seals. Chakra condensed in her fingers and soon began to sizzle with blue electricity that curled around her fingers and illuminated the vortex somewhat.

"I'll get you back for that..." Sasori hissed.

Heiko squinted to see what was going on within the vortex but when she realized what was going on, it was too late. Sasori reached her hand to the edge of the vortex and pressed her fingers to it.

"Rakurai Hadou!" Sasori whispered. (Bolt of Lightning Surge)

The electricity that Sasori had generated ripped through the standing water that Heiko was standing in. Heiko's eyes bugged as she was electrocuted, the electricity ripping through her body. The Rain ninja screamed as her limbs jerked about and her body spasmed.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Sasori screamed as she tucked her fan away and did another series of seals.

"Kaze Yadama no Jutsu," Sasori cried. (Wind Missile Skill)

The wind vortex around her spun faster, collecting more fragments of the mirror. After a few seconds, it hurled the mirror fragments outwards at freakish speeds. Some shards embedded in the bare walls or in the bar but most embedded themselves in the Rain ninja that was being shocked to death. The shards cut Heiko's skin, dug into her all over her body, and the larger fragments pinned her to the wall. One shard gauged Heiko's throat, another buried itself in her cheek, dozens of jagged pieces dug into her torso, and her arms were pinned to the wall by her hands and forearms by large shards. Her legs were to weak to support her.

Sasori released the electricity and once she felt it was safe, she released the vortex. With Sasori's life and control ebbing away, so did the water she had summoned. It disappeared into the toilets and back down the pipes. Heiko was crying, her skin singed from the electricity and her body pierced by the mirror shards. Every so often, she spasmed and would cry harder. Blood dripped down over her face and blinded her in one eye. Heiko was a mess and barely clinging to life.

"Just so you know, I am Dokugamoto Sasori, once of the Hidden Sand but now of the Hidden Cloud, one of the four bodyguards to Shinzui Arashi-sama, the Raikage," Sasori spat.

Heiko let out a scream of agony. She had heard the rumors of the powerful 4 that guarded the lady Raikage but she never expected to meet one, let alone face one in combat.

Her voice stolen, all Heiko could do was cry. Her tears flowed as Sasori took one of her kanzashi out of her maroon hair and pushed the point into the center of Heiko's chest slowly. Heiko was powerless in the face of this new pain, one which seemed to spread through every fiber of her being like wildfire. One by one, her organs began to shut down painfully as her nerves screamed in her brain as though her entire body were on fire. Her heartbeat picked up and then skittered to a grinding halt.

"Weak," Sasori snarled," If this is the best Gensou can offer then you'll be meeting him shortly."

-End Chapter 12-


	13. Calm before the Storm

I don't own Naruto.

File #1; Chapter 13

Sasori stood in the small room between the ladies' room and the club. As Heiko died, her barrier that had kept the bathroom watertight and sealed so that no one could get past had weakened enough so that Sasori could dispell it. She collected herself as best as she could and patched herself up however, Gensou would easily be able to tell that she had been fighting. There were burn holes from the acid rain attack in her kimono and her neck still hurt like a bitch from where that one drop had grazed her skin, leaving a swelled up and nasty looking wound. She couldn't go back to the guys. Even if she cloaked herself with genjutsu, Gensou was a Genjutsu master and he would be able to see right through it. Her mind worked furiously. What would she do? What _could_ she do?

First, she had to find Genma.

Meanwhile, Gensou and Genma had been sipping their drinks. Each had been sizing the other up and speaking in veiled words with double meanings. Gensou had noticed how precisely Genma moved- it was how a ninja moved.

"So how long have you been married?"

"Newlyweds. We are here on our honeymoon."

"I congradulate you then. Sasoriko is indeed a treasure."

They sipped their drinks. It was odd, but an understanding passed between them. Genma felt it strongly. From their conversation, Gensou could tell that Genma was lying but the ninja blended truth and fact so well that it was hard to seperate the two. Genma read Gensou's cool exterior and came to a single conclusion.

'He knows.'

"Shall we move out to the garden? It is quite loud in here. That and I have decided to discuss business with you."

"Certainly. I know Sasoriko will find us."

Outside was a better setting for the fight. Despite the fact that Gensou had no trouble killing, he was a gentleman just as much as he was a ninja- if one person could effectively hold both titles.

So the two men moved outdoors. Thankfully, the garden had few guests in it. The garden that sprawled out before him was beautiful. In the far end of the garden, there was a magnificent natural waterfall that fanned out into a natural spring. The plants were tropical and the flowers exotic and aromatic to the point where their scent drifted into the club but wasn't overwhelming. Against the wall of the club, there was a bar and Gensou motioned for Genma to have a seat. He ordered them drinks and the two sipped them while sizing the other up.

"Let us speak plainly," Gensou said as he sipped his scotch.

"I'm listening," Genma replied.

"You are here to kill me, I have figured that much by the way you move. You move as I do for we are both shinobi of high caliber," Gensou said smoothly," Am I right?"

"Yes you are," Genma replied.

"Now before you draw whatever weapon you have, let us chat for some time," Gensou said.

"Why?"

Gensou smiled and had the bartender refill his scotch.

"How often does one get the chance to talk with his opponent? Besides, I don't quite feel like fighting yet. Another scotch or two."

"I'll play your game," Genma responded," What do you want to talk about?"

"You," Gensou said simply," And that beautiful partner of yours."

Genma was loathe to give information to the enemy but he figured since Gensou was going to be dead soon, it really didn't matter. Gensou already figured him out just as he had him figured out. But whatever, Genma decided to go with the flow and when the man was ready, they would fight. Despite that fact that it went rudely against ninja custom, Genma wasn't going to take any chances on pissing him off.

"Okay, ask."

"Well, what is your name?"

"Shiranui Genma."

"Truthfully?"

"That is the truth. My name is Shiranui Genma. My partner is Shiranui Sasori."

Genma said it casually, not wanting to reveal Sasori's true last name. The Shiranui clan wasn't a remarkable clan by any stretch of the imagination but the Dokugamoto were renowned poison masters. Genma had to keep that part of the act up still.

"And she's your wife?"

"Yes, and she's been my wife for a few months now."

As if on cue, Sasori came striding up to the two men. She approached Genma with a smile and hopped onto a stool beside him. To keep up the charade, she leaned onto Genma's shoulder and nuzzled his neck with her nose lightly.

"I'm back," she purred into his ear.

Genma somehow prevented himself from jumping at that purr. The softness of it, the sensation of warm breath scented with plums that carried with it, and the way it made him feel most of all. A purr like that, hell, he could get used to that! Genma slid his eyes closed and laid a hand on hers (which was curled around his other arm). He turned his head and placed a knuckle under her chin. His eyes slowly opened and he was met with a smile from her. A small, gentle smile that made him smile back.

'She doesn't know our covers' been compromised,' he thought. He smirked, ran his thumb over her bottom lip and then pulled her into a kiss.

Sasori, still thinking their identities as ninja were still secret from Gensou, went with it. She placed a hand lightly on his cheek and lightly stroked his skin with her fingertips. She purred again softly. Sasori was enjoying the kiss even though she probably wouldn't admit it to anyone other than Arashi. She had had many scripted kisses before when she was on missions with her fellow Cloud ANBU but those kisses were all nothing more than what they were intended to be- part of an act. However, this kiss was different. The feeling here was not comraderie but a sweet mixture of desperation and genuine affection. It was slightly awkward for the female Jounin because it was a truely new feeling. That and Genma was... well, Genma.

Genma was enjoying the kiss as well. It was easy for him to pretend to love her but why? He mentally jumped a bit as a thought hit him. Perhaps it was easy not because he was trained to be deceptive but because there was an element of truth to their play. Did he really like her? Was that what made their act so believable and so easy to carry out?

Gensou had been watching the pair with great interest. Many ninja had tried to fake their affection for the other but when it came to that critical moment, there was always some hesitation or reluctance that would give them away as not being what they said they were. These two though, there was something there. Gensou, one of the seven masters of genjutsu, could easily see that there was no illusion in their affection for one another.

Genma sighed as he felt her pull away and inwardly wished that he had had a few more minutes but the kiss had gone on long enough. Any longer would have been excessive. He smiled at her again before putting an arm around her and looking over at Gensou.

"You two make a great couple," Gensou said politely, sipping his scotch.

"Thank you!" Sasori said cheerfully.

"Sasori-chan, Gensou-san knows that we are ninja here to assassinate him," Genma said calmly.

Sasori's smile fell a bit, causing Gensou some degree of displeasure. He liked the kunoichi's smile and was sad to see it go.

"Sasori-san," he entreatied," You two do not make good civilians. Both of you move like seasoned ninja. Normally, I would have killed you by now but after this scotch, we shall fight. Sasori-san, you shall fight my associate, Mayonaka Heiko. I will fight your husband."

"Heiko is dead," Sasori said, her voice laced with steel.

"I beg your pardon?" Gensou said.

"I killed Heiko," Sasori said as a scream ripped through the club and was audible even outside.

Gensou set his glass of scotch down on the bar but didn't let go of it. Heiko couldn't be dead! She was one of his best ninja! However... it was entirely possible that Heiko was avictim of her own vices once again. He had to know more. The screams from inside the club increased. It was then that he noticed the small burn marks on her kimono. She was telling the truth.

"Let me guess... Heiko didn't know you were a ninja before she attacked?"

"Yes," Sasori said," That and she vastly underestimated me. Jealousy can really poison a woman."

"Then she really was a silly twit," Gensou said.

He finished his scotch and set the glass down as his associate Kyosuke came out.

"Gensou-sama! Something momentous has happened!"

"Heiko's dead, I know," Gensou said flatly.

"We must find who did it! There are surely other ninja around here! Gensou-sama, we must get you someplace safe," Kyosuke sputtered.

"I have already found who killed Heiko," Gensou said slowly," And I am going to kill her and her husband."

Gensou's grip on the glass increased and a second later it shattered, a few shards piercing his hand. He regained his composure and picked the glass fragments out immediately.

"Kyosuke, please go take care of Heiko and clear out the garden."

"Hai Gensou-sama!"

Kyosuke started to clear people out of the garden and Gensou stood up. He looked determined and resolute.

"Genma-san and Sasori-san," he said," I am ready to fight."

-End Chapter 13-


	14. Cloud and Leaf vs Mist

File #1; Chapter 14

Gensou shrugged his coat off. Folding it neatly, he set it on the bar and then walked to the pool in front of the waterfall. Kyosuke had done his job well and had even shut the doors between the club and the garden. Gensou perched himself atop a rock and waited politely until his two opponents positioned themselves.

Genma leaned over to Sasori and whispered to her, his eyes never leaving Gensou.

"How are you on chakra?"

"I've got about 65 of my chakra remaining," she said," I did my best to conserve during my fight with Heiko."

"Have you recovered any?"

"5 and I did that just now."

"I'm at 100."

Sasori took Gensou's right since she was left-handed and Genma took his left. They looked over at each other, gave the other a reassuring nod and prepared themselves for combat. Genma took a senbon needle out of his coat and stuck it in the corner of his mouth. He then took his shuriken, kunai, and senbon holster out of his coat, along with a short roll of bandages. He wrapped his leg quickly and fastened the holster around it. His Leaf hitai-ate headband went on next and then he discarded his coat.

Sasori undid her obi carefully and let it fall to the ground. Genma turned his head slightly, his needle sticking up in surprise. 'Why the hell is she stripping?!' he thought. The reason became apparent when she opened her kimono to reveal a black yukata with a deep red obi. The sleeves of the yukata came down to her elbows and the length of the yukata came down to about mid-thigh. Underneath, he could easily see the woven wire that looked like fishnets and that served as flexible, light armor. It came down a little past her sleeves and she rolled a bit down her right leg past her knee. Then she took up her fan and snapped it open. She held two fingers in front of her face and prepared herself for combat.

"No Leaf headband, Sasori-san?" Gensou asked," Please, put your headband on. It makes the fight that much more formal."

Sasori paused before reaching into her kimono. She grabbed her Cloud hitai-ate headband and tied it around her forehead, careful not to mess up her hair. She assumed her fighting stance again.

"Thank you, Sasori-san," Gensou said," From here on out, it's no holds barred. My manners and politeness end here. But I will give you a chance to defect and become ninja under my command. Choose to fight me and you will die here tonight."

"You are a good dancer Gensou, but my husband and I are going to have to refuse. We have our orders and we will not sway from them, no matter what," Sasori replied, a smirk on her face.

"And you?"

"Just like the wife says," Genma said, his hands in his pockets," We have our orders and we are not going to sway from them."

"Hmm. Pity, but let us begin," Gensou said.

5 hands started doing seals, the men using both hands and Sasori using just one. Gensou finished before either of them.

"Kasumi Juusha no Jutsu!" Gensou said. (Mist Servant Skill)

Immediately, seemingly hundreds of Gensous had leapt out of the pool behind him and had taken up positions around Sasori and Genma. Sasori paused her seals as Genma finished his, for once, relying on him.

"Shiranui style! Genshiun Kekkai no jutsu!" Genma shouted. (Atomic Cloud Barrier Skill)

Before the mist clones could engage them, the Cloud and Leaf ninja were enveloped in a thick cloud of... something. It felt like dust to Sasori but this dust had a pulse. It radiated with something. Either way, she felt an arm around her waist and looked over to see Genma. He was going to protect her, she just knew it.

"I've got your back, if you've got mine," he said.

"Damn right!" she replied.

Sasori moved so that her back was pressed to Genma's. Genma smiled to himself and began a short series of seals.

"Shiranui style- Shiranui Rouen no Jutsu," Genma said softly. (Sea Fire Beacon Technique)

When nothing happened, Sasori made an irritated noise and shifted from foot to foot.

"Look for a phosphorescent green light through the cloud. If you can see one, then that is where Gensou is- the real Gensou," he whispered.

Sasori squinted and peered about. Genma looked around as well.

"There," she whispered and pointed.

Sure enough, to Sasori's left and Genma's right, there was a shape outlined in glowing green light. The two smirked at the same time. Sasori snapped her fan shut, tucked it into her obi and started a series of seals with her hands. Genma clasped his hands together.

"Release," Genma said.

The atomic dust started to fade as Sasori finished her seals. Her maroon eyes were focused on the Gensou that had the flickering teal light around him. Her hands clenched into fists, her arms held before her in an "x" formation. A strange, iridescent purple-blue glow formed around her hands as she started to move the chakra to her fists.

"Dokugamoto style- Dokugaken," Sasori said with a smile. (Poison Fist or Vicious Way Fist)

Sasori bent her knees and then she was gone. Genma caught a glimpse of her dashing through the mist clones that had been intended to confuse them towards the marked Gensou. Genma readied his weapons and dashed after her a moment later.

Gensou was shocked that Sasori had zeroed in on him and was able to pick him apart from his misty clones. Her maroon eyes had locked with his icy blue pupil-less ones. Her fighting style, Dokugaken, was going to sap her of precious chakra initially but in the end, it should pay off. Sasori feigned an open-palmed strike to his left shoulder but at the last minute, thrust her other fist deep into his stomach. She was rewarded with a spray of blood from a surprised Gensou. She didn't gloat too long however. He aimed a strike at her neck and Sasori just narrowly avoided it. She did two backflips and landed rather shakily on a wet rock, her eyes on Gensou. She felt some of the chakra she had used to start her Dokugaken return to her after she had punched Gensou but now it was slowly ebbing away again.

"One," Gensou whispered.

While Gensou was distracted with Sasori, Genma came around behind the Illusion master and launched several senbon needles at the back of Gensou's neck. Gensou dodged all but two - one went in his shoulder and the other lodged itself in his upper right arm. Gensou frowned and gritted his teeth angrily as he leapt off the rock. He was met with a kick to the right kidney from Sasori that he hadn't seen coming. He spat up more blood and tried to put some distance between them. Dammit! It was hard to keep track of two highly skilled ninja such as these two. Compared to the Leaf ANBU that had been sent to kill him, these two were on a higher level. The ANBU had been difficult to deal with simply because they didn't play around. These two, especially Sasori, liked to play a bit. Gensou thought that that would make them easy prey but as he found out, he was mistaken. Sasori's combination ninjutsu and taijutsu technique was not only weakening him spiritually, but it was weakening him physically.

Sasori attacked again, barrelling through a mist clone that was close to Gensou. He could see her purple-blue iridescent hands and expected her to feign to one side again. Instead, she took him head on, her right hand striking the right side of his chest in an open-handed palm strike. Gensou felt his right lung partially collapse and groaned in pain. He lashed out at Sasori, his fist striking her in the cheek. Sasori skidded away.

Genma swung in next with a kick to the ribs as Gensou had finally gotten to his feet. Gensou gritted his teeth at the pain and produced a shuriken from his sleeve. Genma barely saw it before it left Gensou's hand and dodged it somehow, the shuriken coming so close to his left ear the Genma heard it sail by.

"Two," Gensou whispered.

Gensou got to his feet again and threw a right hook at the offbalance Genma. It caught Genma in the jaw and made his trip to the ground speedy. Genma managed to cushion his fall and swung his left leg around, trying to sweep Gensou off his feet. Gensou didn't move fast enough and had both legs swept out from under him. He landed with a thud and gasped as his right lung reinflated from the impact. How that happened, he had no idea but it worked to his advantage. The next thing he knew, Genma was on his feet and Gensou immediately followed suit. Genma was prepared for Gensou's incoming punch and easily parried it away.

"Three," Gensou whispered.

The two men had both hands occupied with the other to bother with trying their ninjutsu or genjutsu. Sasori got to her feet and watched the two, temporarily dismissing her Dokugaken so as to conserve chakra. The two ninja were both skilled in taijutsu but not experts. Blows were exchanged fiercely, some landing and some flying by the other, missing by mere centimeters. Why did it look like Genma was deliberately trying to get punched by Gensou? Sasori failed to see the merit in this tactic at all. Finally, Gensou landed a good hit on Genma that sent the Leaf ninja into the ground with audible force.

Sasori knew as soon as she saw Gensou move that Genma wouldn't be able to block the shot. Before he hit the ground, she had already fired up her Dokugaken again and had launched herself at Gensou. Sasori landed a glancing blow across Gensou's upper right arm. He grabbed his arm and gritted his teeth. He tried to punch her but missed.

Genma had propped himself up on his elbows and saw to his horror as the seventh attack missed Sasori as she parried the fist. She stepped into his space and the two slammed their fists into the other's stomach at the same time. Sasori had had the presence of mind to wear a bit of light body armor and Gensou swore under his breath as his fist made contact with the light but still hard ceramic plate beneath her armor. His swear was cut short by the blood that dripped from his mouth and that sprayed lightly onto her face. She held her fist there until he finally managed to push her away.

Gensou quickly put some distance between him and the two attacking ninja. He felt his power rise within him as he chanted the number 7 over and over in his mind. Standing on the rock he had stood on at the start of the fight, his hands moved in a flurry of seals. Genma and Sasori were getting to their feet as he called out the move.

"Magen! Ikijigoku no Jutsu!" he yelled. (Demonic Illusion- Hell on Earth Technique)

-End Chapter 14-


	15. Hell on Earth

File #1; Chapter 15

The world around Sasori and Genma went dark. Screams around them made even Sasori cringe. A blood red moon shone in the sky and eerie glowing white clouds streaked by at an alarming speed across the sky. Howling winds swept by them, kicking up imagininary dust that both ninja thought was real. Around them, demons of indescribable grotesque-ness laughing and howled with pleasure as they killed indescriminate Leaf nin. Genma had to force bile back down his throat when he saw one demon grab Kakashi by the hair and carve out both of his eyes with one sharp claw.

Genma cursed himself for not telling Sasori that she shouldn't have screwed around and just killed Gensou when she had the chance. He punched his fist into the ground for not telling her about the 7 misses rule with Gensou. Now, he had doomed them both probably. He looked around for Sasori and saw her hugging herself not too far from him. He got to his feet and struggled against the cursed wind towards her, praying that this was the real Sasori and not some illusion that Gensou had cooked up. He hit his knees beside her and threw his arms around the kunoichi without a second thought, hugging her to him and forcing her to lock her eyes with his.

"How precious."

The amplified voice of Hirata Gensou echoed around them in the darkness, the source of his voice being inascertainable. The two ninja looked up and saw Gensou standing before them, seemingly unhurt. For tendril of blue-black hair hung in his face as he regarded the pair as he would two children. He spread his arms to either side of him and smiled simply.

"Welcome to hell," he said with a smirk," Please enjoy your stay and remember not to feed the demons."

A large snake curled over Gensou's shoulder and flicked it's tongue at them. Gensou smiled and disappeared, the snake dropping to the ground. Sasori and Genma blinked at almost the same time and when they opened their eyes, the snake had encircled them several times. It constricted its body around them, crushing the two ninja together. Breathing was becoming difficult. Under other circumstances, Genma might have made an off-color remark about how he rather liked being pushed together and if her hands were free, she might have been able to slap him for the comment as well. 'Dammit Kakashi, why couldn't you have told me how to get out of this rather than how to avoid getting into this?' He wondered but then again, Kakashi would have told him how to get out of it if he knew the answer. Perhaps Kakashi had been rescued from Gensou's grip and that was why he didn't know. Then again, if the pieces of information were switched, he would probably be cursing Kakashi anyways for not warning him.

Gensou circled the pair who were hopelessly locked in his illusion. From his sleeve, he produced a pair of hypodermic needles with needles so thin that he could barely see them in the moonlight. He whistled lightly as he jammed both hypodermics into Genma and Sasori's necks. He did it with little ceremony and depressed the plungers. Now, it was only a matter of waiting. The Shiyuri poison would weaken them and eventually kill them. Shiyuri was Gensou's favorite poison and the flower that he derived it from, the Death Lily, was his favorite flower. All of the Leaf ANBU that had been sent after him had died of this very same method. Get them ensnared in the illusion and then shoot them up with Shiyuri. The poison was much more potent when injected into the neck and sped up the dying process.

The illusion master took a seat at the bar, retrieved a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his jacket, and lit up a cigarette. Since he was a master, he needed very little concentration to keep his illusion up. He inhaled sharply on the elegant cancer stick, letting the smoke fill his lungs before exhaling it out both nostrils like some strange dragon with the grace and elegance of an aristocrat.

Sasori in the meantime was trying to finger a shuriken out of the heel of her shoe. Gensou couldn't see her do this since her right side was towards him but she smirked when she managed to yank one out of her shoe. In the illusion, she couldn't see it but in the back of her mind, she knew she had it in her hand. Breathing was getting to be such a chore. At least Genma had the presence of mind to shift his needle to the side of his mouth so he wouldn't poke her like he did two nights ago.

"Genma-" she choked out.

"Right here," he choked back.

"No shit," she said.

Genma smiled at her ability to have a sense of humor in a perilous situation. So he returned wit with wit.

"How may I be of service?" he asked.

Sasori wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off his face at that precise moment but she let a pained expression cross her face. Her heart lurched as she felt something start to attack her very being. It was a strange feeling that she had felt only once before and as her mind snapped to what it was, she felt as though her heart had become encased in ice.

"Shiyuri..." she whispered.

Genma felt it too as soon as the words had left her lips and he heard the word even above the racket from the howling demons. Keeping their eyes focused on the other made it easier to block out the din and horrifying images around them.

"Shit-" she choked," Genma... my groan right hand... grab it."

Genma did and felt something in her palm- a shuriken. In an instant, he understood and closed his hand around hers. He rubbed their palms together and then pressed hard. He gritted his teeth as white hot pain shot up his arm. Blood dripped from their clasped hands as one point of the shuriken potruded rudely from the tops of their palms. This pain, plus the one they felt in their bodies, was real and as the demons started to partially fade, Sasori realized that this pain wasn't enough! It was almost there but not quite! She squeezed Genma's hand, willing the shuriken to push right through their hands if necessary.

Then another idea seized her.

"Genma-" she choked," Needle... forward..."

Genma didn't have enough strength to question her. He shifted his needle to the front of his mouth. He almost snatched it away when he realized what she was going to do. However he didn't most fast enough as she bit her lip and pushed it onto the senbon needle. He could tell she was biting back her pain (no pun intended) and he saw her skewer her own lip on the in end of the needle. Suddenly, she was gone from his sight and the snake tightened around his form.

Sasori snapped out of it. It had been enough pain and when she opened her eyes, she didn't see the horrors from earlier, but the quiet night of the garden. Quickly, she reached up and plucked Genma's needle from his mouth and in one deft motion, had skewered his lip as well. Genma blinked and the horror was gone, replaced by Sasori's smiling face. They had beaten the genjutsu.

But not the poison as their bodies painfully reminded them.

Gensou felt Sasori slip from his genjutsu and turned around in time to see her get Genma out of it. He yanked the cigarette from his mouth angrily and extinguished it in an ashtray fiercely. His blue eyes were wild with anger. How the fck could they escape his Hell on Earth technique? Only three people had ever been able to escape his technique, one of which was dead. Gensou had personally killed the man but was not able to track down the bstard he was with, the infamous Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi. The other was Shinzui Arashi, the current Raikage of the demolished Kumo and had temporarily taken up residency in Konoha with her small band of survivors of the disaster. The clever little minx had stabbed herself several times with her own kunai and released his genjutsu, fighting him to a draw. His mind worked furiously as he put two and two together. That explained her Cloud headband. And her name was Sasori...

Realization washed over him as to exactly who she was and he blanched. Dokugamoto Sasori, one of the four strongest retainers of Shinzui Arashi. Oh Kami, this wasn't good. What if she countered the poisons!? his mind screamed. Genma was nothing compared to this woman and he had to eliminate her- now.

Gensou charged Sasori. He was down to very little chakra and was going to have to rely on taijutsu. Instead, Genma appeared in his way. Sasori had been weakened by the poison since she had already been exposed to it and was trying to get to her feet. Genma was bigger than her and a lot stronger physically. His body screamed in pain with every move he made as the poison slowly killed him.

'Gotta... end this..' he thought desperately. They couldn't survive a second assault of Gensou's genjutsu. Genma was still good as far as chakra was concerned. He just needed to put some distance between him and Gensou so he could do the seals. The two men were breathing hard as they started to beat the hell out of each other, neither even trying to avoid hits. They just took them and kept on going. Genma threw as much force as he could into a punch to send Gensou off-balance and then used the punch's momentum to spin himself around and deliver a kick to his chest that sent Gensou back about 15 feet. Gensou recovered quickly, but it was enough time for Genma to do the seals as Gensou closed in on him. He bladed his body to the enraged and approaching Gensou, hiding the seals from his view.

"Shiranui Style! Genshibakuhatsu Ken!" Genma cried. (Atomic Explosion Fist)

He threw his both his fists forward into Gensou's chest. Gensou hadn't seen it coming and this fact was displayed over his face. Gensou's fist hung in the air and an eerie silence engulfed them for about 10 seconds. The two men panted from exertion.

"Bastard," Gensou rasped.

A low, wet explosion was heard as Gensou's back exploded outwards. Blood coated the grass and mixed with bone fragments and various pieces of viscera that had been caught in the way of his punch. Genma gently pushed forward with his fists. Gensou was dead before he hit the ground.

-End Chapter 15-


End file.
